City of Gold
by IzzyLikesFanfiction
Summary: Kageyama and Hinata acquire a map of the new world. With the promise of riches, they set off on a trail they've decided to blaze together. Things get messy when the locals mistake them for Gods. ((Romance, action, comedy... Road to El Dorado AU. Rating will go up as the story advances.))
1. Chapter 1

"Seven!"

The competitors held their breath as the dice rolled, but the thrower held his head high with confidence. His eyes gave nothing away as everyone watched in dramatic silence, the scene almost unfolding in slow motion. Tension held thick in the summer air, hot and heavy around them. Kageyama didn't fret - they couldn't lose, it was impossible. The crowd waited countless seconds… The dice finally stopped spinning. Two and five.

Without fail, the loaded dice would always give them seven.

The cheers that followed were nearly enough to drown out the tired groans of the three thugs sitting across from Kageyama. The dark haired man smirked and scooped up the dice quickly with his left hand. "Well, there you have it," he stated as he stood up, "The winnings go to us."

"Good throw Kageyama!" His red-headed partner-in-crime whooped, grabbing half the pile of cash from the ground. "I'm telling you boys," Hinata was addressing their competitors now, "Kageyama's lucky left hand never fails!" Laughter followed and Kageyama simply rolled his eyes at Hinata's suggestive comments.

Grabbing what was left of the winnings, he stood to his full height beside Hinata. "Same time next week?" he asked with a smirk.

"Hold on a minute."

With raised eyebrows and concerned glances, Hinata and Kageyama stopped in their tracks, looking to their competitors. They watched as the tallest of the three, Aone, stood up. "One more round," the tall man deadpanned. He was expressionless, though Hinata had said on many occasions it could be because his eyebrows were nonexistent, yet his tone held a firm confidence.

With a laugh and a bubbly smile, Hinata stepped forward. "Yeah, Aone? How're you gonna play? You're broke! You've got nothing left to bet!" As if to punctuate his point, the redhead waved a small wad of cash in front of the brutes frowning face.

From behind Aone, another of the large men jumped up. This one, Bokuto, was considerably more energetic and boisterous. "I've got something we can bet with!" His wide, golden eyes scanned Hinata up and down slowly. "I've got a map."

"A map?"

"A map of the new world!" The man groped through the inside pockets of his purple vest for a moment, Hinata's attention never straying, until he pulled out an old piece of parchment. The corners were ripped and the edges were stained, but the faded images were easy to make out in the bright sunlight. "A map like this could lead you to riches and fame, if only you were to follow it."

Even as the crowd around them laughed with disbelief, Hinata's hand leapt forward, stealing the map with eager excitement. His eyes scanned it quickly, but he was being pulled backwards by the top of his head before he could even agree to Bokuto's bet. With a squeal, he dropped the map and started swatting at Kageyama's hands. "Ouch! Stop that, stop that!" When Kageyama let go, Hinata quickly scooped up the map once more. "Excuse us," he all but cooed as he dragged his dark-haired partner a short distance away from the crowd.

Once away from prying eyes, Kageyama glared at Hinata under the cover of the map. "No," he stated firmly before the other man could even make his pitch.

"But Tobio-"

"No, Hinata."

"Just hear me out-"

"I said no!"

Hinata was quiet after the outburst. Kageyama almost sighed in relief but was cut off as Hinata tried again - he should have known that Hinata giving up was too good of a hope to be true. "This map leads to the city of gold, Tobio!" First names had always been reserved for special use between the two of them. Kageyama wasn't sure when he'd last uttered the name 'Shouyo.' Surely the map couldn't be that important to Hinata? "The city of gold!" Hinata repeated, stealing back his partner's attention. "El Dorado! We could become rich as kings!" Hinata was shouting now and Kageyama had to hiss an attempt to shut him up.

"You know that little voice in our heads that tells us to quit while we're ahead?" Kageyama asked, tone sarcastic and annoyed, "I swear to God, you don't have one."

"It's not like we'll lose," Hinata urged. Really, with those damn puppy-eyes being sent his way, Kageyama couldn't say no. Besides, Hinata was right, it's not like they could lose. He exhaled in a quick huff before nodding and gesturing back towards their place in the centre of the crowd. Hinata whooped, a fist flying through the air, and bounded back to the three thugs. "You've got yourself a bet," he exclaimed, throwing the rolled up map on the ground between them.

"Awesome," Bokuto grinned. Aone said nothing, but his unmoving face somehow seemed pleased. Kageyama found the confidence in the other men unnerving… Yet still, he raised his dice with the smallest smirk. Just as he prepared to throw, the last of the larger men stood up and cleared his throat.

Kageyama hesitated, sending a pointed look to Hinata before turning back to Wakatoshi. "Yes?"

"Use my dice," the taller man stated in a monotone.

Kageyama faltered, again sending a look to Hinata - more viciousness in his gaze this time - before repeating, "your dice?"

"Problem?" Aone cut in. Kageyama was sure that, judging by the wrinkles in his forehead, his left eyebrow would be raised if he had one.

With clenched teeth, Kageyama pushed his own dice into his pants pocket. "No problem," he huffed. He could see Hinata's worried expression in his peripheral. Damn right, they should be worried. There was so much money on the line that they were just leaving to chance! He retrieved Wakatoshi's dice with sweaty hands, nerves flooding his body.

He hadn't realised how hushed the crowd was until he was blowing into his hands around the dice. The noise was thunderous in the deafening silence that surrounded them all. He muttered a quiet prayer to whatever God may exist - he could head Hinata doing the same. He promised himself that he'd find a gun to shoot Hinata with if they failed.

If it had been a slow motion scene before, then his throw of the dice this time was almost unmoving. He barely heard himself yell out, "Seven!" The seconds felt like years, even as the dice hit the ground and bounced. They spun and spun and spun, making Kageyama dizzy. The first finally stopped. Six. Had his mouth not felt so barren and dry, Kageyama would have outwardly cursed. It felt like decades before the second die finally slowed, tilted, and fell to a stop in the dirt.

One.

The crowd roared and Hinata all but screamed in victory. Even Kageyama jumped into the air, shouting profanities and exclamations of victory. Their opponents scowled, grumbling quiet swears and complaints. Kageyama almost took pity on them… But not really.

As the dark haired man swooped down to pick up Hinata's decidedly stupid map, he called out to Wakatoshi. "Have your dice back," he chuckled, throwing the faded yellow cubes to the man. He reached into his pants pocket with an evil glint in his eyes. "Here, take this too, for your troubles." He threw a singular wad of cash at the tall brunette. It hit the man in the chest and fell to the ground with a nearly silent thump, followed by the quiet clinking of Kageyama's cheated dice as they hit the ground.

Horrified, Kageyama lunged to grab the dice. He hadn't meant to pull them out with the cash, and definitely hadn't meant to throw them directly to their competitors, but he was too late. Bokuto had beat him to the dotted cubes and was now rolling them between his palms.

Kageyama watched with fear as the man with white hair and golden eyes dropped the dice. Five and two. He picked them up and dropped them again. Two and five. He repeated twice more, always with the same results. Kageyama scrambled to his feet, ready to run as Bokuto practically screeched, "Cheaters!"

Hinata was beside him in an instant and the two turned on their heels. They'd already taken two running steps when a royal guard stepped into their way. Kageyama looked up, taking in the man's blonde hair with an undercut, and his mischievous brown eyes. Bokuto's yelling continued, now directed towards the guard. "They were playing with loaded dice!"

There was a split second pause. The breaths of the surrounding people seemed to be held as they waited for someone, anyone, to say something. Kageyama turned to Hinata, a look of unbridled anger bubbling to his porcelain face. "Loaded dice?" he questioned roughly, "You gave me loaded dice?!"

The rebuttal was immediate as if rehearsed. "Me!?" Hinata held a hand to his chest in disbelief, "You were the one cheating! Officer, arrest him!"

The officer raised a brow and went to pull his sword from its hilt. Surely, he'd just take the both of them straight to jail… Kageyama jumped forward, skillfully grasping the heavy sword by its rounded handle. He lifted it high into the air, dramatic and slow. The crowd gasped and the blue-eyed man felt like a true actor on a stage. "Splendid idea officer!" he shouted, pointing the sharp metal towards Hinata's shit-eating grin. "We battle to the death!"

Hinata had to hold back a laugh, Kageyama could tell, but the freckled redhead followed the lead and pulled a sword of his own from the hilt of another nearby guard. "To the death!" he agreed readily, "Show no mercy!"

Hinata swung the first blow, coming down hard towards Kageyama's head. The swords clashed with the loud sound of metal-on-metal when the intended hit was blocked. With a scowl, Kageyama pushed the weapon out of his way and made a swing for Hinata's hip. Of course, Kageyama failed to account for the redhead's short stature and nearly cut through his slim rib cage. Again and again, they swung at each other, each blow more risky and violent than the last. The crowd shouted and screamed with approval as the two maneuvered their way away from the guards and knights. Soon enough they were climbing as they fought, pulling themselves up perfectly stacked boxes and ladders until they were standing on a flat, tiled roof.

"Good fight, Kageyama," Hinata whispered, unable to hide the laughter in his voice. Tobio nodded in agreement, barely smiling. They weren't quite done yet. They counted down together under their breath. "Three, two, one…" With mighty swings, they threw the swords to the waiting ground below. "We've decided to call it a draw!" Hinata shouted, waving excitedly to their adoring public below. The grin on his face was as bright as the sun itself. "They love us," he told Kageyama, his laughter now unbridled and loud.

Kageyama had to agree. The two of them excelled at entertaining the masses and keeping them focused on all the wrong things. The crowd truly did love them! But there was no time to think about that now. He could already see the guards running towards the mountain of boxes and ladders, ready to drag the duo to the nearest jail cell they could find. With a flick of his wrist, Kageyama saluted his farewell to the crowd. "Let's go," he muttered to Hinata. The two of them spun on their heels in sync and took off in the opposite direction.


	2. Chapter 2

**There's a little Easter Egg from one of my favourite DaiSuga fanfictions in this chapter. To find out which one, or for more extra notes & comments, please read on AO3. **

Kageyama watched from a distant booth as Hinata retold their day's adventures to each new patron of the rusty bar stools. It had truly been a day to remember and the redhead was more excitable than usual, sitting at the bar with his hands flying through the air to help retell the story countless times.

It was a cheap little tavern, named something along the lines of 'The Black Feather.' Each table was littered with fruit flies and empty glasses, but Kageyama didn't mind. He barely noticed anymore. The duo had been frequenting the bar for nearly five years now, ever since Kageyama's 20th birthday when they'd needed somewhere inexpensive to celebrate.

From his place across the room, Kageyama could clearly make out Hinata's shouting. He laughed quietly to himself; with every retelling, the story changed ever-so-slightly until now Bokuto and Aone had engaged in a passionate kiss somewhere between winning the map in a duel and a riveting chase scene through a bull's pen. Hinata's imagination knew no bounds.

This was nothing new to Kageyama.

Yet he knew that they'd only gotten lucky. Had the dice landed on different numbers, perhaps two and three or six and four, they would have lost all of their winnings. Honestly, it wouldn't have been a large loss at all but they would have gone the evening without dinner or alcohol. Had the swords not been so easily accessible to them, Kageyama wasn't sure they would have managed to get away so easily. That would have been disastrous… Cheating at gambling was not new to the pair, they were wanted all around Spain because of it. A jail cell meant the loss of their free lives! The ultimate, most unbearable loss they could possibly land…

They'd gotten too close to the edge this time.

With a sigh, he shot back the last of his murky-coloured beer and stood up. "Hinata!" he shouted as he threw some cash onto the table. There was no reply, only continued shouting about gun shots that never really happened, so Kageyama turned on his heel to shoot a glare at his partner. "Dumbass!"

That got the redhead's attention. The shorter man looked up, falling silent before a scowl crossed his usually happy features. "Idiot, don't call me names!" With a huff, Hinata jumped off his stool and ran over to Kageyama. Once by the taller man's side, he turned to whomever he'd been talking to - a girl with blonde hair and a nervous smile - and waved enthusiastically. "See ya later, Yaichi! It's been fun!"

"Y-yes! Good-bye Shouyo!" She waved back, albeit more timidly.

It wasn't long before Hinata and Kageyama were walking down the streets. Even at this hour, it seemed the town of Cuervo couldn't go to sleep. People roamed the streets similarly to how rats plague the sewers. Children, teenagers, adults… It seemed people of every age and size had decided to wait until the moon reached its peak before they crawled into their comfy beds.

Kageyama often wished that he could have that luxury, but he and Hinata hadn't known beds since their orphanage days.

"So, where to tonight?" Hinata asked suddenly, stepping swiftly out of the way as a group of kids ran between them. "I don't think we have enough for the fancy place by the east end. Why don't we go back to the dusty place by the bakery? The people there are so nice!"

"No, they kicked us out last time," Kageyama stated, brows furrowed in annoyance at Hinata's inability to remember anything. "You kept jumping on the beds and banging on the walls…" He almost laughed, remembering the awkward conversation when the owners of the inn had knocked on their door, assuming that the two were having very loud sexual adventures. In reality, Hinata had only been having a particularly energy-filled night. It wasn't new for Hinata to start running around like a madman, hitting his hands - and sometimes his head - off of every surface imaginable. Kageyama had grown used to it by now.

Hinata huffed in annoyance. "Fine, what about the place with those huge windows? You liked that place."

Pushing a hand into his pants pocket, Kageyama pulled out the remainder of their day's winnings. They'd only gotten dinner and some drinks, but the fruity cocktails Hinata insisted on drinking had gone up in price dramatically recently… "Too expensive," he sighed, shoving the money away once more. "We could just go to Natsu's. She always has an open door for us."

"No!" Hinata's whining resembled that of a dog's, high pitched and slightly irritating - yet, also, adorable. "I hate asking my little sister for stuff. Besides, she probably has mom with her and I just…" He trailed off, his whining melting into a tone that suggested a genuine disliking of the idea.

A quiet understanding washed over the two of them as they walked, both in thought about where they could go for the night. It felt like their lives were an endless cycle. Gamble all day, buy dinner and drinks, then find an inn they could afford to stay at. Four hours of sleep and they'd be at it all again… They'd had brief changes before, like when they'd stumbled on enough money to hitchhike across Spain's coast, or the week Hinata had found it necessary to provide shelter each night for various consorts - the ladies appreciated that, sure, but Kageyama had been less than thrilled to sleep in trees for seven nights.

The longer they walked, the more apparent it became that they'd be returning to those same trees again. Without either of them mentioning it, they were already walking in the direction of the town's local park, unclear on who was leading who but naturally trusting each other all the same.

They got to their usual spot relatively quickly, passing by other homeless thieves and beggars sleeping on benches and in the grass. Tree's had always been Kageyama's preference, he assumed Hinata felt the same - he always did. Being within the winding branches, away from the hustle-and-bustle of the ground below, felt safer and calmer.

Together, they climbed the tree. That alone was a sport in itself! Hinata wasn't tall enough to reach most branches which prompted Kageyama to life, push, and pull the redhead up the tree. In the end, he was nearly exhausted - Hinata only laughed at the taller man's apparent misery. "Don't be such a baby, Kageyama!"

For a few hours, they sat comfortably in the two thickest branches of the strong tree's and talked about life and the future. Their evenings always ended this way, it was nothing new… Soon enough, their words reduced to mumbles and they both began to drift into the silent abyss of sleep.

"Night, Hinata…"

"G'night Kageyama…"


	3. Chapter 3

Loud laughter from beneath him woke Kageyama up the next day. Grumbling and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he peered down through the cluster of branches to find the reasoning behind that all-too-familiar laugh.

The dark haired man couldn't say he was surprised to see Hinata standing with Natsu, the redheads nearly identical little sister. She knew most of the places they frequented and often tried to find them if she heard rumours about any dangerous activities they'd been involved in, like the time Hinata had gotten a black eye when he got particularly cocky towards Wakatoshi.

Word was like wildfire in Cuervo, spreading quickly from house to house until everyone was in flames… Kageyama decided quickly that his brain was still too tired for metaphors. Long story short, Natsu had probably caught wind of their shenanigans from the previous day and was visiting to make sure they were alright.

With a heavy groan, Kageyama finally sat up from his slumped position against the tree. He was quick to put a hand on the branch beneath himself in order to keep his balance as he rolled his neck. Tree's were so damn uncomfortable… He could hear Hinata's loud voice from below; "Look at that! He's finally awake!"

It wasn't long before Kageyama had joined the siblings on the ground and the three of them chatted. The girl rambled on about how worried she was about them, how they should visit more often, how her door is always open, etc… Hinata, as usual, waved all her comments off. The redhead was too proud to accept help, especially from his little sister.

Kageyama had always thought it was a family trait. Natsu was quite reluctant for help as well, which was her reasoning for not leaving their mother when Shouyo had chosen to leave for an orphanage. While Kageyama's life in the home for lost boys was involuntary, Hinata's had been - more or less - a choice. A good choice, seeing as his mother was abusive and crude, but a choice nevertheless. Natsu refused to go searching for a girls home, claiming that she could 'handle mother.' It had always been quite a complicated situation, so Hinata never visited his sister unless their mother was out of the house.

The three of them chatted for hours. Apparently, after the events of the previous day, the downtown area of Cuervo was swarmed with the authorities. The price on their heads was high.

"With the amount their offering, I even thought about turning the two of you in myself!" Natsu laughed, her devilish grin nearly identical to the one Kageyama knew well from Shouyo. "You're lucky I love you both. I would have done it."

"Yeah, yeah! Whatever!" Hinata laughed, nudging his little sister playfully. She giggled and copied the motion.

Watching the two interact was… Heartwarming. Kageyama nearly smiled.

Suddenly, Natsu's smile was diminishing and a serious expression stole its place. "Jokes aside… What're you going to do?" She was staring at Shouyo, eyebrows tilted down in a sign of worry and uncertainty. "You… You can't stick around town. Not anymore. That new commander they hired, he's really got it out for the two of you. It's not safe."

Kageyama felt his lips turn down in distaste. He didn't like the idea of leaving town… He'd grown used to Cuervo, quirks and all, and didn't like the prospect of change. It was unsettling, to say the least, but as he peered towards his partner-in-crime he couldn't see any hint of negative feelings.

In fact, Hinata Shouyo was nearly beaming with unbridled excitement. "I've already been thinking about that!" he announced, "And I have a plan!"

Natsu and Kageyama watched in shocked curiosity as Hinata shoved a hand into his deep pants pocket and brought forth a rough-looking piece of parchment.

At the same time as Natsu asked, "What's that?" Kageyama was shouting, "You kept the stupid map?!"

Immediately, Hinata countered Kageyama with shouting of his own. "Well if I left it behind, the whole thing would have been for nothing!"

"When are we ever going to need that stupid map?" Kageyama asked through a growl, "It's useless and nearly cost us our lives!"

With a roll of his eyes, Hinata huffed. "They wouldn't have killed us, dummy. Whatever, my point is, the map is our ticket out of here!"

Natsu giggled, grabbing the map from her brother. "A map of the new world, eh?" she asked, reading the title on the parchment. "Just how do you plan on getting to this new world?"

"We follow the map!" Hinata's excitement was usually contagious, but currently, it was only serving to piss Kageyama off.

"It's a map of the new world, not to the new world," he deadpanned, arms crossed. "It only works if we're already there, dumbass."

Eyes blown wide, Shouyo looked to his sister for confirmation. With a tight smile - she was trying so hard not to laugh - she nodded in agreement to Tobio's statement. "He's right."

Hinata's disappointment took form in a loud groan, one that Kageyama rolled his eyes at. Natsu erupted into a fit of laughter, pushing the map back into Hinata's hands. The redheaded boy looked so disappointed, yet Kageyama couldn't find it in himself to feel sympathy for him. Obviously, they couldn't use that damn map for anything…

"Whatever," Shouyo finally muttered, shooting a glare at his still laughing sister. "Kageyama's supposed to make the plans anyways! It's not my fault mister-know-it-all hasn't offered an idea yet."

"Don't turn this on me dumbass!"

The trio continued on like that for a while more, bickering and laughing as they always had. After being the butt of one-too-many jokes, Shouyo ran off to walk ahead of them with an over dramatic pout. When he did, Natsu once again turned serious. "So," she directed her words to Kageyama, hushed enough that her brother wouldn't hear, yet loud enough to catch Tobio's attention, "Do you have a plan?"

Kageyama did have a plan, in fact, but he was hesitant to suggest it. He'd alway known they'd need to have a backup plan, just in case, but the one he'd thought of age ago was something he wasn't sure was even an option. He'd been hoping to never need to suggest it. "We could stole away on a ship."

He expected Natsu to giggle, thinking he was joking. Maybe then he could take it back… But she didn't. She looked just as serious, nodding as though considering the idea. Tobio knew that, if they followed through, the chances of the siblings ever seeing each other again would be slim. The idea made him visibly wince - despite their differences, the redheads were very close. Taking them away from each other could be catastrophic.

"It's not a very realistic idea," he noted when she'd remained silent. "The chances of getting caught are high, and I don't know if it's worth the risk of being thrown overboard-"

"It's a perfect idea." Natsu's certainty was surprising. "You need to get out of town. Getting far away quickly would be easy on a ship… I'm just not sure if Shouyo will do it."

The two of them watched Shouyo, who was still walking up ahead. His pout was gone, now replaced with a concentrated expression as he tried to catch a piece of fluff floating through the air in front of him. Kageyama sighed heavily. They both knew that if this was going to be the plan, they'd have to drag the boy kicking-and-screaming.


End file.
